Tiphsah

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

A town on the western bank of the Euphrates, the limit of Solomon's empire in that direction ( 1 Kings 4:24). Hebrew Tiphsach. Menahem king of Israel smote it and all its coasts ( 2 Kings 15:16). Thapsacus, in northern Syria, where the Euphrates was usually crossed (Strabo xvi. 1, section 21). From pacach , "to pass over," i.e. the ford. Solomon's aim ( 1 Kings 4:24) was to have a line of trade with central Asia across the continent. Tadmor was the halting place on the way to Tiphsah.

It was "great and prosperous" (Xenophon, Ahab. 1:4, section 11) as the emporium between E. and W., owing to its ford and its bridge of boats (Strabo xvi. 1, section 23; 3, section 4). Here goods were embarked for transport down the river, and disembarked for land transport from boats which came up it (Q. Curt. x. 1). Suriyeh now marks the ford, four stadia or 800 yards across, as Xenophon accurately states, and at times having but. 20 inches of water. The ten thousand here first learned Cyrus the younger's real intentions (Xenophon, Ahab. i. 4, section 11). A paved causeway on either side of the river and a parallelogram line of mounds still mark the site.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Tiph'sah. (Ford). Tiphsah is mentioned in  1 Kings 4:24, as the limit of Solomon's empire, toward the Euphrates, and in  2 Kings 15:16, it is said to have been attacked by Menahemi. It was known to the Greeks and Romans, under the name of Thapsacus, and was the point, where it was usual to cross the Euphrates. Thapsacus has been generally placed at the modern Deir ; but the Euphrates expedition proved that there is no ford at Deir , and that the only ford in this part of the course of the Euphrates is at Suriyeh , 45 miles below Balis , and 165 miles above Deir . This, then, must have been the position of Thapsacus.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

TIPHSAH (‘crossing’). 1. The classical Thapsacus , the chief crossing-place on the middle Euphrates for caravans and armies, after the decline of Carchemish in the Persian period. It lay on the eastward bend of the river where it leaves its southerly course. It is named as the north-east limit of the dominions of Solomon (  1 Kings 4:24 ). 2 . Tiphsah should be corrected to Tappuah , with the Lucian LXX [Note: Septuagint.] , in   2 Kings 15:18 .

J. F. McCurdy.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

The ancient Thapsacus, an important city on the western bank of the Euphrates, which constituted the northeastern extremity of Solomon's dominions,  1 Kings 4:24 . The ford at this place being the last one on the Euphrates towards the south, its possession was important to Solomon in his design to attract the trade of the East to Palestine. Hence the building of Tadmor on the desert route. Perhaps the same city is meant in  2 Kings 15:16 , though some understand here a city of the same name near Samaria.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

1. The boundary of Solomon's dominions on the Euphrates.  1 Kings 4:24 . This is doubtless the city known to the Greeks and Romans as Thapsacus, situated at the ford of the Euphrates, which well agrees with the signification of Tiphsah, 'passing over.' It was where Cyrus, Darius Codomannus, and Alexander crossed during their wars. The town was a place of importance. Identified with Suriyeh, 32 10' N, 35 10' E .

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Tiphsah (Tĭf'Sah ), Passage, Ford. A city on the western bank of the Euphrates, supposed to be the Thapsacus of the Greeks and Romans. It was the northeastern extremity of Solomon's dominions.  1 Kings 4:24.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 1 Kings 4:24 2 2 Kings 15:16

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 1 Kings 4:24 2 Kings 15:16

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Heb. Tiphscch', תַּפְסִח , from פָּסִח, To Ford, this being the usual crossing- place of the ELuphrates [Strabo, 16:1, 21]; Sept. θαψσά v.r. θερσά; Vulg. Thaphsa, Thapsa ) is mentioned in  1 Kings 4:24 as the limit. of Solomon's empire towards the Euphrates, and in  2 Kings 15:16 it is said to have been attacked by Menahem, king of Israel, who "smote Tiphsah and all that were therein, and all the coasts thereof." It is generally admitted that the town intended, at any rate in the former passage, is that which the Greeks and Romans knew under the name of Thapsacus (θάψακος ), situated in Northern Syria, on the western bank of the Euphrates, not far above Carchemish. Thapsacus was a town of considerable importance in the ancient world. Xenophon, who saw it in the time of Cyrus the younger, calls it "great and prosperous" (μεγάλη καὶ εὐδαίμων, Anab. 1; 4, 11). It must have been a place of considerable trade, the land traffic between East and West passing through it, first on account of its ford-way (which was the lowest upon the Euphrates), and then on account of its bridge (Strabo, 16:1, 23); while it was likewise the point where goods were both embarked for transport down the stream (Q. Curt. 10:1), and also disembarked from boats which had come up it, to be conveyed on to their final destination by land (Strabo, 16:3, 4). It is a fair conjecture that Solomon's occupation of the place was connected with his efforts to establish a line of trade with Central Asia directly across the continent, and that Tadmor was intended as a resting-place on the journey to Thapsacus. Thapsacus was the place at which armies marching east or west usually crossed the "Great River." It was there that the Ten Thousand first learned the real intentions of Cyrus, and, consenting to aid him in his enterprise, passed the stream (Xenoph. Anab. 1, 4, 11). ‘ There, too, Darius Codomannus crossed on his flight from Issus (Arrian, Exp. A l. 2, 13); and Alexander, following at his leisure, made his passage at the same point (ibid. 3 7). A bridge of boats was usually maintained at the place by the Persian kings, which of course was broken up when danger threatened. Even then, however, the stream could in general be forded, unless in the flood season. This is clear from the very name of the place, and is confirmed by modern researches. When the natives told Cyrus that the stream had acknowledged him as its king, having never been forded until his army waded through it, they calculated on his ignorance, or thought he would not examine too strictly into the groundwork of a compliment (see Xenoph. Anab. 1, 4, 11). When Greek ascendancy and enterprise succeeded to Persian rule, Thapsacus rose into still greater importance, and embraced both sides of the river-whence it received the name of Amphipolis (Pliny, 5, 21).

It has generally been supposed that the site of Thapsacus was the modern Deir (D'Anville, Rennell, Vaux, etc.). But the Euphrates expedition proved that there is no ford at Deir, and, indeed, showed that the only ford in this part of the course of the Euphrates is at Suriyeh, 45 miles below Balls, and 165 above Deir (Ainsworth, Travels in the Track of the Ten Thousand, p. 70). This, then, must have been the position of Thapsacus. Here the river is exactly of the width mentioned by Xenophon (four stades, or eight hundred yards), and here for four months in the winter of 1841-42 the river had but twenty inches of water (ibid. p. 72). "The Euphrates is at this spot full of beauty and majesty. Its stream is wide and its waters generally clear and blue. Its banks are low and level to the left, but undulate gently to the right. Previous to arriving at this point, the course of the river is southerly, but here it turns to the east, expanding more like an inland lake than a river, and quitting (as Pliny has described it) the Palmyrean solitudes for the fertile Mygdonia" (ibid.). A paved causeway is visible on either side of the Euphrates at Suriyeh, and a long line of mounds may be traced, disposed, something like those of Nineveh, in the form of an irregular parallelogram. These mounds probably mark the site of the ancient city.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

tif´sa ( תּפסח , tiphṣaḥ , "ford"; Θαψά , Thapsá ):

(1) This marks the northern extremity of the dominions ruled by Solomon, Gaza being the limit on the South ( 1 Kings 4:24 ). It can hardly be other than Thapsacus, on the right bank of the Euphrates, before its waters join those of the Balik. The great caravan route between East and West crossed the river by the ford at this point. Here Cyrus the younger effected a somewhat perilous crossing (Xenophon, Anabasis i. 4, 2). The ford was also used by Darius; but Alexander the Great, in his pursuit constructed two bridges for the transport of his army (Arrian iii. 7). Under the Seleucids it was called Amphipolis. The site is probably occupied by the modern Kal‛at Dibse , where there is a ford still used by the caravans. It is about 8 miles below Meskene, where the river makes a bend to the East.

(2) (Codex Vaticanus Θερσά , Thersá , Codex Alexandrinus Θαιρά , Thairá ): The inhabitants of this town, which was apparently not far from Tirzah, did not favor the regicide Menahem, refusing to open to him. In his wrath he massacred the Tiphsites with circumstances of horrible cruelty (  2 Kings 15:16 ). Khirbet Tafsah , about 6 miles Southwest of Nāblus , corresponds in name, but is probably too far from Tirzah.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Tiph´sah, a large and opulent city on the western bank of the Euphrates. It is doubtless the same as the Thapsacus of the Greeks and Romans. The name means 'ford;' and the town was, in fact, situated at the lowest fording-place of the Euphrates; whence it became the point of trading-communication between the natives east and west of the river. On this account, and as commanding the ford, the possession of the place was deemed of great importance by the ruling powers of the day. This circumstance explains the contentions of the kings of Syria and Egypt respecting Carchemish, which was a strong place a little lower down the river, at the junction of the Chaboras. Solomon obtained possession of Tiphsah , probably in connection with the series of operations (of which the building or fortification of Tadmor was one) adopted by him for the purpose of drawing the Eastern trade into his own dominions [SOLOMON; TADMOR]. Nothing remains of Tiphsah at the present-day except the name; but the site is supposed to be marked by the village of Ed-Deyr.